Animagi?
by ocean-of-ink
Summary: Alice Longbottom thinks the Marauders are up to something. Are they really trying to become Animagi? Surely even Pettigrew wouldn't be that stupid...


[Publisher's note: This letter and the accompanying journal entries were sent by an anonymous source.]

To the reader:

The following is a series of select entries from a journal written by Alice Prewett. She sent them to me for safekeeping. It is my belief that she was planning to use them as blackmail material in an attempt to go out with Sirius Blank, the now-infamous mass murderer. However, she is now, unfortunately, no longer self-aware enough to request their return, and I think fans of the Harry Potter book series written for Muggles might enjoy these previously unknown details on the lives of these people.

Enjoy your reading.

oOoOoOo

October 5, 1974

Dear Diary,

I have decided to start yet another new journal. In this one, which will no doubt join my already-large pile of half-filled notebooks, I will keep track of all the pranks those idiots do, because a lot of them are actually quite funny. By "those idiots" I mean James Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew. They play pranks so often I'll probably fill the entire notebook in a year.

Alice

Note to self: find out whether saying "the pranks those idiots do" is actually proper English.

oOoOoOo

October 8, 1974

Dear Diary,

I am starting to become very suspicious. Not that I'm paranoid or anything, I just think James Potter and his little group are up to something. I know that they're always up to something, usually pranks. But they all seem like they're hiding something more important than a bunch of practical jokes.

Alice

oOoOoOo

December 14, 1974

Dear Diary,

Today I noticed something very odd. Peter Pettigrew was having trouble sitting down today in class, and when he bent over at the end of Transfiguration to put his books in his bag, I saw that he had what looked like a rat's tail in the appropriate location. (OK, maybe "appropriate" isn't the best word for it, but you know what I mean.)

I have several theories about this.

1. Today in Transfiguration, when we were Vanishing rats, he somehow managed to attach the tail to himself. This is possible, but unlikely. He's stupid, but he's not that stupid.

2. He took Polyjuice Potion with part of a rat in it. Again, possible but unlikely. He's not able to brew it himself, and I don't think he would put rat hairs into it even if he got someone else to make the potion for him. Also, according to Slughorn, taking Polyjuice Potion with an animal part makes you look a lot like the animal, it doesn't just give you a tail.

3. He's trying to become an Animagus, and his form will be a rat. So are the rest of James Potter's little crew, which would explain why they're acting strange – well, stranger than usual. While this is possible, and maybe even the most likely, I don't think even Peter Pettigrew would break the law in such an idiotic way.

4. It was a prank gone wrong. Possible, but they've had enough pranking practice to get it right.

My total is: four theories, no answers, and a desperate need to find a synonym for the word _possible_.

Alice

oOoOoOo

February 17, 1975

Dear Diary,

I have more news on Sirius Black and his Group (that title is too long, so from now on I will call them Them for short). Today I saw them enter Moaning Myrtle's bathroom (who would do that if they had a choice?) After they left I went in and asked Myrtle what they were doing. She told me, after sobbing for a bit about how people only visited her when they needed information, but not to talk to her. Apparently, she can't exactly tell me, because they use some sort of charm to guard it that affects ghosts, but they're brewing a potion and preparing a spell. She also heard the words _rat, dog, _and_ stag. _Maybe they _are _becoming Animagi! Pettigrew's a rat, Black is a stag, Lupin's a dog, and Potter is a…mosquito, probably.

Yeah, right. And maybe I'll be _crucio_ed until I'm insane. Gosh, I _am_ becoming paranoid.

Alice

oOoOoOo

March 21, 1975

Dear Diary,

I have a way to figure out if Them are Animagi. When I was in the library doing my Charms homework with Emma Thomas and Lily Evans, I saw a book called _Illegal Animagi: The Hidden Threat_. I'm going to read it every time I see one of Them, and glance at them suspiciously from behind my book every now and then. If they react, I'll know that I'm right, and I'll have the added bonus of scaring Them. If I'm wrong, I'm insane.

See, it's a win-win situation. Sort of. OK, maybe not, but win-win sounds better than win-lose. It's more positive, and nobody likes a pessimist. Right?

Alice

oOoOoOo

May 2, 1975

Dear Diary,

I have been reading The Book for a week now, and Them are very nervous. Well, not Lupin as much, but he might just be controlling himself better. I have won! I mean, I would have won either way, of course, but still…

Now the only question is what to do with this knowledge. I think I'll keep it hidden until I need blackmail information on one of them, or possibly all of them.

The only mystery remaining is what Potter's form is. I still think mosquito, though some kind of nocturnal animal might be better. Honestly, I've never seen him make it to breakfast on time, and he falls asleep during every History of Magic class (though I suppose everyone does that).

Alice


End file.
